A device commonly referred to as a power converter is often used in electrical systems to receive electrical power from an electrical power source, such as, a generator; condition the electrical power; and supply the conditioned electrical power to one or more electrically-powered devices. During use, the power converter tends to generate unwanted heat. Dissipating the heat generated by the power converter can help improve the efficiency of the power converter and, in some instances, avoid damage or degradation of certain of the components.
Many standard power converters utilize an air cooling mechanism, such as, a fan, for example, to move cooling air over the various components to dissipate heat. However, air cooling may not be practical in some environments, such as, those which are debris-laden or wet, for example. Another technique for dissipating heat from power converter electronic components includes circulating a coolant fluid through or past a heat exchanger which is in thermal contact with electronic components of the power converter.
Japanese patent document JPH 0983164 is entitled, “Heat Sink and Its Manufacture,” and is directed to a heat sink which is constituted of: an extruded material in which a through hole is formed, a fin which is inserted into the through hole, pipes which are fitted to round holes made in the extruded material, and a lid which closes an opening face at both ends of the through hole. A plurality of guide grooves for the fin are formed in two opposite faces of the through hole. The fin is composed of a plate-shaped part and rod-shaped extension parts which extend from both sides of the plate-shaped part. The fin is inserted into the through hole along the guide grooves formed in the through hole. The fin forms a plurality of coolant passages inside the through hole. The height of the rod-shaped extension parts of the fin is configured to be nearly equal to the depth of the guide grooves. Consequently, spaces, i.e., tank parts, by which the respective coolant passages communicate, are formed on both sides of the respective coolant passages partitioned by the fin part.
There is a continued need in the art to provide additional solutions for power converter cooling techniques. In particular, cooling fluid techniques for power converters tend to create various mechanical and structural challenges related to packaging the electronic components compactly while still allowing for sufficient heat dissipation. Thus, there is a continued need for additional solutions for power converter cooling that allow for an increased power module packing density with a desired thermal conductivity performance.
It will be appreciated that this background description has been created by the inventors to aid the reader, and is not to be taken as an indication that any of the indicated problems were themselves appreciated in the art. While the described principles can, in some respects and embodiments, alleviate the problems inherent in other systems, it will be appreciated that the scope of the protected innovation is defined by the attached claims, and not by the ability of any disclosed feature to solve any specific problem noted herein.